


i am a man who will fight for your honor

by Woodswolf



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 10 Finale, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Death, Character Study, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Introspection, Loss, Reflection, Season/Series 10, Season/Series 10 Spoilers, Spoilers, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 20:33:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17711090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woodswolf/pseuds/Woodswolf
Summary: It is in that moment that Wu knows what he must do. He may not be able to heal his former student back to life, but he can certainly preserve his legacy in death.I am a man who will fight for your honor,he thinks,and I will not let you down.In which Wu considers life, death, and the endless, unfair cycle of things.





	i am a man who will fight for your honor

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eaj-V2KIxRk) on repeat for like seven hours while writing this.
> 
> Listen along.

Wu realized long ago that he is a healer. He’s supposed to tend to the downtrodden and forgotten, to keep them safe and let them recover. He’s done it for his ninja – his students – countless times before, and will do it in countless times to come.

He doesn’t have a word for what they are to him. “Students” feels too distant – too much has happened between them for him to consider them as simply his pupils. And “family” feels too broken – his family has only been torn apart and damaged and _hurt_ over and over again.

So maybe they’re his friends. Maybe they’re some of his best and closest friends. Maybe that’s what they are.

His eyes are unfocused. He doesn’t want his eyes to focus. He doesn’t want to look at the corpse lying on the ground in front of him, half-crushed under the weight of the collapsed wall. He doesn’t want to see the pale blond hair that won’t wave in the wind or the bright emerald eyes that will never open again.

Hours ago – was it really only a few hours? – he was told that one of his other students was gone. The Master of Earth had fallen below the dark clouds that now consumed the horizon around them. Wu had mourned him then: mourned how cruel it was that his first student would be taken from this world so soon. Wu mourned him even though there was no time to mourn; and as the new Master of Fire re-forged ancient weapons, Wu stared into the flames and wondered if there was a point to all of this destruction.

And now, standing here, Wu doesn’t have to touch the body to know that there is nothing to be done. He still feels for a pulse, even though he knows there’s no point. Time and tea can heal many things, but they cannot free his nephew from the cold embrace of death.

But his students don’t know for sure. Wu’s students – his best, closest friends – don’t know the truth. He lowers his face, hides himself beneath the wide brim of his hat, and shakes his head slowly. _Lloyd is no longer with us._

They’re all crying then. The world may have been saved, but the price was too high to be worth it.

* * *

The five remaining Ninja stay close together after that.

Wu does not join them. He wants to, but he doesn’t. It feels… disingenuous. He lost his nephew; they lost… whatever Lloyd was to them. He doesn’t know, and he refuses to pretend that he does. All he knows is that he is mourning, and so are they.

Misako is mourning, too; mourning her son. She wants to mourn with him, but Wu knows that they’re too different. His pain cannot possibly compare to hers, and he doesn’t want to pretend that it can.

Garmadon is the only other person left. Wu catches him leaving late at night, before he can descend too far down the mountain.

“Where are you going?” he asks his brother, hiding his eyes under the brim of his hat once again.

Garmadon turns back to look at him, and Wu can’t help but notice how different they are now. His brother is a monster now, no longer even vaguely human, made of horns and claws and teeth. It doesn’t change anything.

“I figured I would go out for a stroll,” his brother croons softly, the same way he always does when he has a plan.

“Down the mountain?” Wu asks. “Away from your family?”

Garmadon hardens then, his red eyes staring deep into Wu’s very being. “Don’t test me, _brother,”_ he growls, his eyes flaring. “ _This_ is no longer my home.”

“ _We_ are mourning, Garmadon,” Wu says harshly. “Running away from the truth is _cowardice.”_

Garmadon leaps forward in an instant, gripping a clawed hand around Wu’s throat. Another hand grabs his sword, while a third begins to glow with dark energy. “I am not a _coward,”_ he says in a low hiss. “And _you_ are not one to judge.”

Wu refuses to be intimidated, instead choosing to glare into his brother’s glowing red eyes. “Your _son_ is _dead.”_

“And you know what?” Garmadon asks, his voice hardening. His lips part to reveal a mouth full of bared fangs. “Some small, insignificant part of me _knows_ that I should care. But I don’t know if I do. And until I know either way, _I don’t want to be here.”_

His brother releases him then and backs away, extinguishing the magic flowing between his fingers. His sword remains drawn, but the arm holding it returns to his side passively.

A long moment passes between them as they stare at each other through the darkness. After a while, Wu finally speaks. “Then I suppose this is goodbye,” he says slowly, lowering his eyes from where they had been locked with his brother’s.

Garmadon breaks the stare as well. “Yes,” he replies. “It is.”

No other words are needed. Garmadon turns back and slowly descends the stone steps. Wu watches him leave, walking down and away until his form fades into the sea of clouds.

He never sees his brother again.

* * *

This time, the monument is made of solid gold. More than anything else, Wu is angered.

It’s a small ceremony; there are no more than perhaps forty people in attendance. He sees the former Masters of Fire and Water, as well as Jay’s parents and Cole’s father. Other friends are there too: Dareth and Ronin, Skylor, the other Elemental Masters who could make it. But they don’t matter to him now.

The eight of them are all lined up in the front row: Misako, himself, Jay, Nya, Kai, Cole, Zane, Pixal. Wu hides his face, sitting in silence as it unfolds around him. The Master of Fire delivers another speech at another funeral, his voice nearly quaking with tears all the while. A golden ray of sunlight bursts through the clouds, an echo of a light snowfall from years prior, but Wu has lost all ability to care.

He knows from experience what will happen in a few months. This beautiful monument will stand abandoned, only to slowly get marred by the elements and turned to dust. The other one is still standing elsewhere, crumbling away as its likeness walks again. Wu is angered, because he knows that Lloyd will have no such second chance. This effigy is all that’s left.

It is in that moment that Wu knows what he must do. He may not be able to heal his former student back to life, but he can certainly preserve his legacy in death.

 _I am a man who will fight for your honor,_ he thinks, _and I will not let you down._

He stays behind until long after everyone else leaves. Then he polishes the statue.

* * *

He finds himself lying on a peaceful green island surrounded by mist. Wu has always been able to tell when he is dreaming, but he’s still surprised when Lloyd appears all the same.

His nephew offers him a hand to pull him up, but Wu rises to his feet without assistance. Lloyd is wearing a black robe cinched at the waist by a golden rope belt. A green-and-gold dragon spirals around it, almost rippling as the fabric moves.

Lloyd notices his staring and speaks up. “The First Spinj- I mean, Grandfather gave this to me,” he says, answering Wu’s unspoken question. “Do you… like it?” he asks somewhat nervously, spreading the fabric out and turning on his heel to display the design.

“It’s nice,” Wu answers cryptically a moment later.

Lloyd purses his lips and frowns, sheepish, then turns away from him. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, barely loud enough for Wu to hear.

Wu considers how to respond for a moment. “Why?” he asks.

“For – just…” Lloyd hesitates. “For leaving.”

There’s a sudden silence. Wu lets it hang, unable to formulate a response. Lloyd speaks again after a little while.

“The Fir- Grandfather,” Lloyd says, correcting himself. “He gave me a choice. He said I could go back to you or stay with him. I didn’t understand, and I… I chose to stay.”

Wu now understands the conflicting emotions he can sense swirling in Lloyd: confusion and doubt and guilt. He’s not sure what he can say, but he tries anyway.

“It’s not your fault,” he says, but he feels the angry tears long before they begin pooling in his eyes. “It’s not your fault,” he repeats, clenching his jaw to keep from screaming.

“Wu?” Lloyd asks, shocked at Wu’s sudden emotional outburst. He’s never seen his former master act like this. “Are you okay?”

Wu takes a long moment to rein himself in, to cut off his anger and sadness and betrayal before it chokes him. It works, but barely. “Why have you brought me here?” he asks, answering Lloyd’s question with a question.

Lloyd is caught off guard and backs off from where he had gotten close to Wu to comfort him. “I – I just –” he stammers, looking at the grass and flowers on the ground. “I just… I wanted to know if…” he trails off, leaving only the silence.

Wu gives him time to gather his thoughts. Lloyd eventually clears his throat nervously before speaking again.

“The F- _Grandfather,”_ he says forcefully, struggling with the new title. “He’s taught me lots of things since I came here. But I just… I wanted to know if you could take care of Ninjago… without me.”

Lloyd looks away from him again, and in that moment, Wu can’t help but see him for what he is: not a great hero who had died defending his cause, or a prophesized savior who had sacrificed himself for the greater good. Wu looks at Lloyd and sees a worried teenager with the fate of the universe on his shoulders. Wu looks at Lloyd and sees a terrified child forced to fight off the infinite darkness. Wu looks at Lloyd and sees a scared little kid, asking him for reassurance that he’s done the right thing.

The angry tears are back, and this time they spill over. “You wouldn’t have to ask,” he says, his jaw clenched shut tightly, “if _he_ understood mercy.”

“What?” Lloyd asks, confused. “The – Grandfather’s been nothing but nice to me, I don’t –”

“He _stole_ you before your time,” Wu says, his voice shaking with anger. “You had so much _potential_ and now you’re _gone.”_

Lloyd looks at him, confused and hurt by his words. “You don’t get it. He’s _shown_ me things here – I understand so much now about how all of this works, and it – it _had_ to be this way.” He huffs for a moment, struggling to explain. “Everything is supposed to be balanced – to banish the darkness, you must remove the light. And now I’m here.”

“And you don’t have to be!” Wu says, nearly shouting. “Light must rise up to fight the darkness, not go down with it! It’s not _fair!”_

“Not fair? Not _fair?”_ Lloyd screams back at him. “Damn it, Wu, **_none of this is fair!”_**

Wu stops when he hears Lloyd’s desperation. His nephew is crying now, too, but his tears are open and honest, not hidden in shame.

“None of this has _ever_ been _fair,”_ he says, his voice shaking. “I didn’t _ask_ to be the Green Ninja. I didn’t _ask_ to inherit Grandfather’s golden power. I didn’t _ask_ to have my powers stolen, or get possessed, or be part Oni and Dragon, or… or _anything!”_ He pauses for a moment, choking on a sob. “I didn’t _ask_ to have a destiny, I just _got_ one, whether I wanted it or not.”

Lloyd closes his eyes and stands still, sobbing quietly in the open field. Wu’s heart breaks, knowing his nephew doesn’t deserve this pain. He approaches, slowly, carefully, before drawing him into a gentle embrace.

Both of them cry a little longer, gathered in each other’s arms. Wu holds Lloyd as close as he can for what seems like forever, until Lloyd finally pulls away, his eyes red but dry.

A voice calls vaguely in the distance, and Lloyd looks off into the mist in the direction where it came from. “I… I think I have to go back now,” he whispers. “Grandfather doesn’t know I did this, I just… I wanted to see you for a little while.”

Wu smiles sadly, letting go of him and taking a step back. “I’m glad you did,” he says quietly.

“So, I… I guess this is goodbye,” Lloyd says. The voice calls again, slightly louder, and he looks towards it and then back at Wu. “Unless… you want to come with?”

Lloyd holds out his hand for his uncle to take, one last time. Wu, however, shakes his head, taking another step back.

Lloyd drops his hand and sighs, looking slightly relieved. “Please… please take care of them,” he whispers.

“I will,” Wu replies.

“Promise?”

Wu looks at Lloyd, and for a moment, he sees that small child again, staring up at him with bright green eyes and a crooked grin.

He smiles. “I promise.”

Lloyd smiles back. “Thank you,” he whispers. Without another word, he runs into the mist.

* * *

Wu wakes up in the darkness. It’s late at night, and almost impossibly dark, but as he turns to the window, he can’t help but notice the object sitting in the glow of moonlight.

It’s a small handful of beautiful golden flowers, just like those from the field in his dream. Wu looks at them and knows that it was real, before he goes to the kitchen to get a glass of water to put them in.

Just for a little while, it almost seems like things are okay.

**Author's Note:**

> So I don't know about yall, but I'm kinda dying? Like? Uhhh?
> 
> NS10 fucked me up lads, that's all I know.


End file.
